Currently inside St Ursula's Cemetery, the church of Santo Spirito was commissioned by Queen Margaret of Navarre and Sicily, who promoted the construction of the building between 1173 and 1178 through Bishop Gualtiero Offamilio. The church was then entrusted to the Cistercian order. It was acknowled...

On 4 September 1169, a violent earthquake struck Catania, the eastern coast of Sicily and southern Calabria. The epicentre was in the Ionian Sea, between the cities of Catania and Syracuse. The tremor reached the 10th degree on the Mercalli scale, while the magnitude is estimated at 7.5. There was s...

Gualtiero, who can be seen depicted in a miniature of the Liber ad honorem augusti by Pietro da Eboli, was Archbishop of Palermo from 1169 to 1190. We do not know for sure the place and date of his birth: he was probably born in Sicily in the first half of the 12th century. He was erroneously and fo...

Gualtiero, who can be seen depicted in a miniature of the Liber ad honorem augusti by Pietro da Eboli, was Archbishop of Palermo from 1169 to 1190. We do not know for sure the place and date of his birth: he was probably born in Sicily in the first half of the 12th century. He was erroneously and fo...

These fortress-like buildings were characterised by their grandeur, thick walls and grandiose forms, so much so that they were an expression of the political centralisation of power and seemed almost like defensive fortresses. In Sicily, examples can be seen in the Palermo Cathedral, in the Monreale...

William II was called the Good, unlike his father who was called the Bad. Born in Palermo in 1153, he assumed the throne at the age of 12 after the death of William I, protected by his mother Margaret of Navarre. Crowned in 1171, he became of age and devoted himself to strengthening relations with t...

William II was called the Good, unlike his father who was called the Bad. Born in Palermo in 1153, he assumed the throne at the age of 12 after the death of William I, protected by his mother Margaret of Navarre. Crowned in 1171, he became of age and devoted himself to strengthening relations with t...

William II was called the Good, unlike his father who was called the Bad. Born in Palermo in 1153, he assumed the throne at the age of 12 after the death of William I, protected by his mother Margaret of Navarre. Crowned in 1171, he became of age and devoted himself to strengthening relations with t...

William II was called the Good, unlike his father who was called the Bad. Born in Palermo in 1153, he assumed the throne at the age of 12 after the death of William I, protected by his mother Margaret of Navarre. Crowned in 1171, he became of age and devoted himself to strengthening relations with t...

In cornu evangelii (Gospel side), is the term used to refer to the left-hand side of the church, in relation to the high altar. It is named so because during the liturgy, the reading of the Gospel took place in this space. In cornu epistolae (Epistle side) is the term used to refer to the opposite s...